1. Technical Field
The subject invention is directed to a lidded container for inventorying, shipping and storing goods having a security hinge assembly hingedly connecting the lid to the container such that the contents of the container may not be pilfered by entry through the hinge without destructive force to the hinge assembly and container.
2. Description of the Prior Art
The use of lidded containers is wide spread in material handling applications for shipping, storing, and inventorying goods and continues to grow each year. For example as "Just In Time" inventorying policies are adopted by manufactures, distributors, and retail operations, the use of tote box type lidded containers increases. Such containers generally include a base defining a bottom of the container and four sidewalls extending upwardly from the base to define an interior of the container. Typically, two opposed lids are hingedly connected at one end to the upper margins of opposed sidewalls and are movable about the hinge between open and closed positions to either permit or bar access to the goods carried within the interior of the container.
The security of the contents of the container is always a concern. One early attempt to limit pilfering of such containers involved molding tie down apertures in the lids at their free ends and corresponding holes in the sidewalls of the container. The lids were then locked in their closed position by using a security device such as a pad lock through the a lined aperture and hole as shown in FIG. 6 and described at column 4, line 63--Column 5, line 7 of U.S. Pat. No. 4,161,261 issued to Frater on Jul. 17, 1979 for a Security Container.
With the free end of the lids securely locked in their closed position, the hinge connection between the lids and the upper margin of the container sidewalls became the weak spot from a security stand point. The most common hinge connection in such containers is a rod and groove type hinge wherein a hinge wire is threaded through aligned alternating bosses on both the lids and upper margin of the container. However, in this early configuration, the hinge wires could simply be removed and the contents of the container illegally accessed through the opening at the hinge.
In order to combat this problem, the hinge wire was bent at predetermined places after insertion through the aligned bosses as shown at 19 in FIG. 1 of the Frater '261 patent mentioned above. However, this bent hinge wire design required an additional manufacturing step and therefore raised costs.
Another solution provided for hinge wires 12 having a pre-bent "goose neck" portion 14 at one of its terminal ends as shown in FIG. 2 of the drawings. This goose neck portion 14 extends through the open end 16 of the terminal boss 18 of the hinge and is designed to make removal of the hinge wire difficult. While this design achieves its objective, thieves are still able to remove the hinge wire 12 because a small portion extends through the open end 16 of the terminal boss 18 allowing unauthorized persons to manipulate the hinge wire with needle nose pliers or other tools to back the goose neck and then the entire hinge wire out of the bosses. Furthermore, this design was not "idiot" proof in assembly. Often the hinge wire 12 was inserted such that the goose neck 14 was not properly aligned in the terminal boss 18 such that its removal was made all the more easier.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,663,803 issued to Gora on May 12, 1987 discloses a Security Hinge Joint With Separate Hinge Pin which employs a pair of blind or closed ended bosses 20, 22 on either side of the hinge to eliminate access to the hinge wire. However, during assembly of the hinge, the lid and container must be flexed or bent along section lines 35 and 37 respectively as shown in FIGS. 7-9 of this patent. This bend or flexing step adds cost to the manufacturing process and is somewhat dependent on the characteristics of the material used to mold the container and lid as to how much force must be used to manipulate the material to get the ends of the hinge wires into the blind bosses 20, 22.